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Remember pathetic children’s movie choices from Thanksgiving 2011?

So sick of people saying I should be grateful for crumbs and the Minority Feisty. If all goes well, My nine year daughter and I are going to see “Wreck-It Ralph” today. I’ll try to review Saturday morning.

Last year’s post:

Thanksgiving movies a feast for boys, girls go hungry

November 23, 2011

Let’s see, no school today and my daughters want to see a movie.

Is it too much to ask for one holiday movie to put a female character front and center as it does for male characters in all 5 holiday movies?

What about a mother-daughter saga instead of father-son one as in “Arthur” (Santa’s incompetent son) and “Happy Feet” (Mumble’s son can’t dance like he can)?

Or a girl buddy movie as in “Puss In Boots” (Puss and Humpty dream, go on adventures, and finally, transition)?

Ok, here’s the thing. Most if not all of the people who directed these are male. It is way easier to write for a character that one can relate to, and that is why I think there is this gender gap. It’s not that everybody in Hollywood is a boorish jerk, I mean sure, there are some like the the guy who changed the name of Tangled. But mostly it’s just this subconscious thing. The obvious solution is to get more girls into film and other industries. However I realize this is difficult because society is in a sort of feedback loop. Because the media is dominated by (usually well meaning) male directors, the films will all have male protagonists and…agg over and over again

I completely agree with you and have written that on my blog. It’s not that men are evil, or even sexist at the root. Men, like all humans, are self-centered. They put their experience up there on the screen. If women were 98% of directors, and had been writing and then recycling the same stories for thousands of years, men would be in the sidelines and sex objects as well. I agree with your solutions as well– more women need to get their narratives out there. What is fucked up– besides the loop– is that, at this point, all of our imaginations of been colonized by these same stories. As the art critic, John Berger, writes: “Men watch, women watch themselves being watched.” THis is one of the many challenges for women getting their stories out there. So I resort to cliches: we need to really listen to our inner voice, tell the truth, and act.

Ever since I started following your blog I’ve come to see the huge imbalance in the portrayal of females in the media, especially those targeted at children. It’ funny how, instead of things getting better they seem to get worse. However, I was very pleasantly surprised when I watched Wreck-It Ralph in terms of female representation. I am looking forward to your review of the film.

Hugo is not about a girl, but is the film version of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” I agree that there are not enough female leads in the world, but it would be a shame to miss “Hugo.” It’s a beautiful film and a wonderful book. There is a very strong female character in it as well. The book is priceless.